Motivated, Excited. Where to focus my hunt

[Sumner Rabin]

Hi Everyone,

I have a rental unit obtain thru inheritance here in Southern California with a "zillow" estimated value of 500k. The home is fully paid off and has been a rental unit for the family member we inherited it from for years. We will continue to keep it a rental indefinitely.

I have a few scenarios I am exploring to maximize this opportunity:

1) Pull some cash out for a down payment and buy a property in my town here in SoCal and make that a rental unit as well

or...

2) Pull cash out to buy a property out of state. I have been looking around Phoenix, Daytona Beach, FL and Atlanta. Even exploring college towns.

I am not committed to a SFH, condo, townhouse. I am committed to what would be a good starting point. Hence my wide focus. I also do not necessarily want to go big with a 100k down payment here in SoCal where in a lower COL area the 20% down could be 1/5th my expense. Is that thought process wrong?

Any suggestions on how I can safely take this opportunity given to me and flip it into the start of a cash flow business?

Thank you all!